Day 23 (18th November)

Okay, so we're just a tad behind on the blog and by now you will have received an email Christmas card from us tandem hang-gliding. We have to come clean and confess that although Kate looks like the competent instructor, she was in fact Chester's instructor with Kate's head stuck on. Almost had you all fooled! Anyway the 18th Nov was when we actually flew for real. Our flights were postponed from 11am to 3pm as the weather was chilly and they had to wait for enough thermals to form. In the mean time we mooched around Queenstown, had lunch in the sun in a waterfront cafe and discovered some fantastic art in the local shops. At 3pm we were bundled into a minibus headed for Coronet Peak just north of Queenstown. Chester was strapped in rather clumsily by a rooky trainee who had to be corrected on where he had the straps (not something you want someone to be 'trying out' on your husband) and before I was fully strung up he was off the edge and flying! Eeeeeeeeek! I hadn't time to wonder how he was doing before I too was instucted to take one step, two step, runnnnn and whoooosh! We soared along the ridge for a while then the instructor said, 'Can I scare you now?' to which I answered, 'Okay just a little'. He then nose-dived the wings, sent us wheeling in circles and I screamed a lot!
A few more of those brought us down to a safe landing in the field below and after laughing face down in the grass, got up and wanted to do it over again.
That evening we drove our van on a long dirt track to the top of Lake Wakitipu to a fabulous spot called Kinloch where we were alone in watching the sun set across the lake to the sound of frogs singing.